Bio-PDO production represents new ag market

Pioneer Hi-Bred International (a subsidiary of DuPont) announced DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products, LLC, an equally-owned, joint venture, has sent the first commercial shipments of Bio-PDO from its $100 million facility in Loudon, Tennessee. The Loudon facility produces 1,3 propanediol (Bio-PDO) from renewable resources, in this case corn sugar, making it the first facility in the world to manufacture this new bio-based product.

Bio-PDO is a totally new corn-based product that can be used to make a variety of consumer products replacing petroleum-based propanediol.

"Bio-PDO is a new product made from corn in a fermentation process and that product is used to make new consumer goods and in many cases we are replacing the use of petroleum products," says Pioneer President Dean Oestreich.

The joint venture uses a proprietary fermentation process developed jointly by DuPont and Tate & Lyle to produce Bio-PDO using corn instead of petroleum-based feedstocks. The production of Bio-PDO consumes 40% less energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 20% versus petroleum-based propanediol. Production of 100 million pounds of Bio-PDO in the Loudon plant will save the equivalent of 13.5 million gallons of gasoline per year, or enough to fuel 24,000 cars annually.

For more information, visit www.dupont.com.

Pioneer Hi-Bred International (a subsidiary of DuPont) announced DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products, LLC, an equally-owned, joint venture, has sent the first commercial shipments of Bio-PDO from its $100 million facility in Loudon, Tennessee. The Loudon facility produces 1,3 propanediol (Bio-PDO) from renewable resources, in this case corn sugar, making it the first facility in the world to manufacture this new bio-based product.